August 23, 2024
Eddie Drinkard is a member of Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, a real estate broker who focuses on selling property with large acreage, and a very gracious Christian gentleman.
One of the things Drinkard does to serve his church is to maintain the grounds, including doing whatever landscaping is necessary, and providing pine straw whenever it is required. He explained, “They don’t tell me what to do and I don’t tell them what I am going to do.”
Norman McGlohon, who until recently taught the Bible study class Drinkard is a part of, said Drinkard is “one in a million, a dedicated Christian and the kind of man most churches would like to have in their fellowship.”
On a recent trek to Washington and Lincolnton in Drinkard’s red pickup truck, he began to tell me about Leonard Jones, a local folk artist. During our journey from Athens to Lincolnton, I learned that Jones has lived in Lincolnton most of his life. After brief stints in Elberton, where he worked at a plant packaging chickens, and Atlanta, where he hoped to meet someone who could help him achieve his goal of being a gifted artist, he returned to Lincolnton.
Jones had seen a piece of art on a large section of tin in an antiques shop in Bogart, Ga., and thought tin just might be good material upon which to display his artistic ability.
Drinkard became a believer in Jones’ work when he saw one of his paintings in the office of Kenny Adair, the tax assessor for Lincoln County. Jones had painted a man in a chair holding a newspaper and wearing a UGA cap. Adair has a heart of mercy himself and a desire to help others, and purchased the painting from Jones as a gift for his daughter.
It was at that point that Drinkard became interested not only in the artwork, but the artist as well.
Incidentally, Adair is the man who for 20 straight years has managed the leaderboard on hole 18 at the Master’s Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. The only benefit for performing that task is the privilege of seeing the pro golfers finish their competition each day, and getting the opportunity to play a round of golf each May at the course.
Drinkard started delivering to Jones the tin that once provided the roofing for his father’s chicken houses. The top side of the tin was damaged by rust, but the underside was in good condition.
For years Jones has been painting scenes such as three crosses, chickens in a barnyard, streams of water, fields of flowers, United States flags, UGA flags, and just about anything “Bulldawggish.”
Most of the paintings come from Jones’ head and heart. Although he is occasionally given a picture to duplicate on his tin roofing, he primarily paints things he imagines or has seen in the past.
Drinkard once asked Jones to paint a picture of the beautiful backyard and cascading stream flowing over the rocks behind his house. He took a photo of the scene, delivered it to Jones, and it was not long until he had the finished product in his hands with the sharp contrasting colors, the exquisite depictions of the trees and flowers, and the sunlight penetrating the shadows to highlight the tints and blushes of springtime.
Jones has even painted the “Jumping Man,” UGA football coach Kirby Smart. On January 10, 2022, Georgia’s football team beat Alabama for its first National Championship since 1980. When Kelee Ringo intercepted Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young’s long pass with less than a minute to go and ran it back 79-yards for the title winning touchdown, the Georgia coach was seen jumping with delight over the play that assured the Bulldogs victory. The announcer declared that Smart had a 38-inch vertical jump in celebration of the pick six.
Jones created folk-art representations of that victorious moment on his tin roof canvas. One such painting was presented to Coach Smart and one to Mike Bobo, Georgia’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks’ coach. Drinkard did the honors by giving the paintings to the two coaches after they had finished a round of golf in Cashiers, N.C.
Gov. Brian Kemp has also been the recipient of one of Jones’ works of art and received it as a gift from Drinkard. The real estate broker has purchased scores of Leonard’s paintings to help support the artist and to bless those who become the recipients of Drinkard’s generosity.
Jones lives in a rather unkempt, wooden house by the side of the road. Although he faces many physical challenges, he is using the gift God has given him to bless others. Eddie Drinkard purchased and gave me one of Leonard’s paintings of the three crosses. I will cherish it for whatever years God choses to grant me on this earth.
Through my travels across the state of Georgia for more than two decades as an itinerate preacher and as a writer for The Christian Index, God has given me the privilege of meeting some of the most wonderful people on the planet. From the Governor’s mansion on West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead to Leonard Jones’ house on Metasville Road near Lincolnton, the state is home to some amazing and talented people.
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J. Gerald Harris is a retired pastor and journalist who served as editor of The Christian Index for nearly two decades. You can reach him at gharris@loveliftedmehigher.org.
